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Google Apps Progress
08/26/08, Migration Complete, OCS Shutoff Scheduled
ITS is proud to announce that all e-mail has been migrated out of OCS
and into Google. The migration is complete! The OCS system will remain
accessible for a few weeks in case you wish to doublecheck that all your
mail was migrated. OCS and CorporateTime will be shut off permanently
on Wednesday, October 1. If you have questions, please call the ITS
Help Desk at x.6525 or e-mail helpdesk@macalester.edu.
08/12/08, Google Error Fixed
Between approximately 4:00 and 6:00 PM Central time yesterday, Monday
August 11, Google EMail service was inaccessible. This was a
system-wide problem and potentially affected all Google users, including
GMail account holders. Service was restored at approximately 6:00 PM Central.
By 8:00 PM Central time, Google staff had posted an explanation and
apology for the problem on their blog. You can read that explanatory
post if you would like more information. (Please note that Google staff
use the terms "Google EMail" and "GMail" interchangeably, so this does
pertain to us.)
08/11/08, Temporary Google Error
Google EMail has been acting very strangely since approximately 4:20 PM
Central time. Google administrators report that this is a temporary
error, and assure us that our account data and messages are safe. The error is system-wide, and
affects all Google customers, including GMail account-holders. They
are working to correct the error, and recommend that we try accessing
Google accounts again in a few minutes. We will post more information
as we have it.
08/05/08, Mysterious Migration Messages
The following message was sent to everyone whose old OCS e-mail is in the
process of being migrated out of OCS and into Google EMail, as announced yesterday,
08/04/08.
As your migration proceeds, you may get some strange-looking error
messages. They are automatically generated and sent to you, the
account holder. You may safely ignore them: you do not need to do
anything. We have found that if some messages fail to migrate during a
first pass, the problem disappears on a second or successive attempt.
For this reason, we will continue the migration of your account until
all the mail has been moved. At that time, you'll get the note from
David Sisk saying "your migration is complete."
So that you'll know what to look for, the mysterious error messages
usually appear like this:
*****begin text*****
A message fetch request returned an IMAP "NO" response from the server
and was not migrated.
Please contact your IMAP administrator for details.
This message has been left on your original mail server.
IMAP information:
Folder: INBOX
UID: [number]
*****end text*****
08/04/08, Final OCS Migration Begins
It took somewhat longer than we had originally planned, but as of 5:00 PM today all e-mail in remaining Macalester
OCS accounts will begin migrating to Google EMail. Those individuals who volunteered for the first round of migration, some 'behind the scenes' folks and all those who opted out of the migration altogether will not be affected. If your account is being migrated, you should have received
the following message outlining the process:
"We will begin migrating all remaining e-mail out of OCS and into Google
Apps today, Monday August 4, starting at 5:00 PM. This migration will
affect everyone who did not volunteer to participate in the first round
of migrations or did not opt out of the migration entirely. You are
receiving this message because your account is one of those that will be
migrated.
"While your migration is underway, you will not be able to access OCS.
Your use of Google will NOT be interrupted, and you can continue to send
and receive Google e-mail normally! While your mail is migrating,
please do not delete, rename or label any of the mail that will move
from your old OCS account into your new Google account.
When your migration is complete, you will receive an e-mail message
telling you so. It may take some days to completely migrate your mail -
we hope to have this done for everyone within the week. However, the best
indicator you will have as to your migration is the message we will send
you when it is done. Don't worry if others in your office get such a
message but you do not. We will monitor the migration and act if we see
problems."
If you received this message and have questions about your migration, please
contact the ITS Help Desk, x.6525.
07/02/08, Mail Migration Status Report
We are still in the process of migrating e-mail messages from OCS to Google Apps. This is a rather laborious and time consuming procedure, and we greatly appreciate your patience in this endeavor.
If you have any questions regarding the migration, please direct them to the Help Desk (e-mail helpdesk@macalester.edu or call x6525).
06/27/08, Google Email and Time Zone Problem
The time zone glitch that we have previously notified you about affects you even if you are only using Google Apps e-mail. Google Email and Calendar are tightly integrated. Therefore, you need to check the time zone in your Calendar settings. Why? Because you probably don't want to be an hour early to meetings.
For example: someone invites you to a meeting from either on or off-campus. If your calendar time zone is incorrect, Google Email sees that, and will change the time appearing in the e-mail invitation to match your incorrect time zone. Thus, even if you don't use Google Calendar, it is very important to go in and check your calendar settings.
To check your settings, use the instructions at this link.
If you have already done this check, or corrected this before, you don't have to do it again. If you have any questions, please call the ITS Help Desk at x6525.
06/25/08, Mail Migration Status Report
The completion of the migration of email from OCS to Google is beginning this evening. OCS will be unavailable between the hours of 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM to do this migration. This downtime will continue every day until the mail migration is completed.
06/19/08, Google Calendar Orientations
If you haven't been able to attend a Google Calendar training session, drop in to Humanities 302 for a one-hour introduction. No sign-up is necessary, just come to Humanities 302 for one of the following sessions:
Wednesday, June 25, 8:30 AM
Thursday, June 26, 1:30 PM
06/09/08, Google Email Template Class
Do you need to create and use templates in your e-mail? For example, do
you often have to send out the same message to multiple people, with
just one or two items changed? We are offering an informal class on how
to build and re-use templates in Google's Email. No signup is
necessary, just come to Humanities 302 at 10:30 AM on Thursday, June 19.
If you have questions or would like more information on this class,
please call Bonnie Alexander at x.6625 or e-mail her.
06/05/08, PDA-Google Consultation Services Now Available
Since June 1, Google Calendar has been Macalester College's official
shared calendar and scheduling tool. Some staff and faculty have
handheld devices, such as Personal Data Assistants (PDAs) or Smart
Phones (e.g. BlackBerrys, iPhones or Treos) that they would like to
synchronize with Google Calendar. We have information on recommended
smart phones, and how to configure your phone or PDA to sync with Google
Calendar in our Google FAQ. If you have difficulty setting up your PDA
or Smart Phone, the ITS Help Desk can offer consultation service in
person in Humanities 314, or you can schedule an appointment to help you
configure your handheld device in your office. The Help Desk may be
reached at x.6525 or at helpdesk@macalester.edu.
06/04/08, Mail Migration Status Report
We have not forgotten you, nor your need to have your old OCS e-mail
migrated into Google! Some problems emerged while migrating the mail of
our volunteers, and we are working to resolve these problems before we
attempt to manually migrate all remaining mail. More information will be
forthcoming on or before Wednesday June 18.
06/03/08, More Google Calendar Orientations
ITS is offering four more informal orientation sessions for
Google Calendar, the College's new tool for scheduling group
meetings. Everyone is cordially invited and welcome to
attend. No sign-up is necessary, just come to Humanities 304
at the following dates and times:
Monday, June 9, 9:00 AM
Tuesday, June 10, 10:00 AM
Wednesday, June 11, 2:00 PM
Thursday, June 12, 2:00 PM
These sessions assume no previous experience - and yes, there
will be opportunities for you to ask questions!
05/30/08, Google Calendar Is Here!
As of June 1, Google Calendar is Macalester College's official shared
calendar and scheduling tool. Please use it; try out its features and
get to know it. We think you'll find Google Calendar highly useful. For
example, unlike Oracle Calendar (a.k.a. Corporate Time), everyone at
Macalester - all faculty, staff and students - has access to Google
Calendar.
To help you get started with Google Calendar, we've prepared a brief
checklist. Follow these steps, and within ten minutes, you'll be
set to go. We have also written some clear, thoughtful documentation to
answer the questions you may have right away, including 'Getting Started
With Macalester Google Calendar' and 'Exporting Corporate Time
Meetings.' Yes, you can export your existing Corp Time meetings
into Google Calendar - with a few caveats (attachments and attendees
other than yourself will not export, and only the first instance of a
repeating meeting will export).
A personalized, hands-on introduction is also available. We have
scheduled the first three informal drop-in Google Calendar orientation
sessions, and everyone is welcome to attend these. No sign-up is
necessary, just come to Humanities 302 at one of these convenient times:
Monday, June 2, 10:00 AM
Wednesday, June 4, 9:00 AM
Thursday, June 5, 1:30 PM
Further orientations will be scheduled throughout the summer and into
the Fall semester. If you have problems or questions about Google
Calendar, please contact the ITS Help Desk (x.6525 or
helpdesk@macalester.edu), or speak with one of our Google Rollout
Liaisons. You're going to like Google Calendar!
05/28/08, E-Mail Migration Update
Thanks to everyone who volunteered to have their e-mail migrated from
OCS to Google. All voluntary migrations have been completed and signup
has closed. During the voluntary migration period, we discovered two
unknown problems.* Some volunteers found that one or more messages failed to
migrate, with no clear reason given other than a mysterious 'UID
number.' Others noticed that entire folders of old messages failed to
migrate. These problems were not anticipated, and we are working on
ways to solve them. If either or both of these problems affected you,
you do not need to take any action at this time.
Because of these problems, we are delaying the manual migration of all
e-mail belonging to those individuals who did not volunteer. This
manual migration will still take place, just later than originally
planned. Please be assured that no messages will be lost, no matter
when the migrations occur. Although we have set a date of July 3 to
turn off the OCS server, we certainly will not do that if any mail
remains unmigrated.
*As announced, attachments with scripts (for example, .vbs) or executable
files (for example, .exe) will not migrate.
05/21/08, Calendar Change Notes
We are counting down the days to June 1. With the beginning of
Macalester's new fiscal year, Google Calendar replaces Oracle Calendar
(a.k.a. Corporate Time) as the official online tool for scheduling
personal and group meetings. We think you're really going to like it.
Google Calendar includes many new features, such as the integration of
calendaring and e-mail.
As we make this transition, here are some key points you must know. We
strongly recommend you check these points off in this order.
1. Check your country and time zone settings. If these are incorrect,
all your meetings will be off. The country must be United States and the
time zone Central (GMT-6:00). Even if it appears that these settings are
correct, you should follow all four of the steps outlined in this
document: Google Calendar Time Zone Settings.
2. You can export existing meetings out of Oracle Calendar into Google
Calendar. Attendees other than yourself will not be exported. (You can
encourage others to start using Google Calendar by issuing new
invitations to your colleagues, and re-add them as attendees at the same
time.)
3. Attachments to Oracle Calendar meetings will not be exported.
4. Repeating meetings won't export as repeating (i.e. only one instance
will move). You will need to open the single instance that does export, and
re-set the repeating occurrences of this meeting.
5. Have fun exploring Google Calendar's features and tools!
To help you make this transition, we've created some documentation,
available here: Getting Started With Google Calendar and also Exporting Meetings from Oracle Calendar to Google Calendar.
Further, we have scheduled the first three drop-in orientation sessions
for you to learn more about Google Calendar. There is no sign-up
necessary, just come to Humanities 302 - we're looking forward to seeing
you!
Monday, June 2, 10:00 AM
Wednesday, June 4, 9:00 AM
Thursday, June 5, 1:30 PM
Finally, we're hosting a brown-bag "tips and tricks" session for all of
Google Apps - E-Mail and Calendar. This will be held Tuesday, June 3
from 1:30 to 2:30 PM. Again, you need not sign up, just show up. We
will be scheduling more Calendar Orientations and Google Apps Tips and
Tricks sessions this summer and this coming fall as well.
05/15/08, E-Mail Migration Updates
If you volunteered to migrate your OCS e-mail to Google, your messages
will gradually begin to arrive in your Google account. Once the process
begins, it can take up to 24 hours - or longer - to complete. You will
receive an e-mail message when your migration is done. If you have not
yet volunteered but wish to do so (or want to opt out), go to
https://saml.macalester.edu/signup.php.
05/14/08, Mail Migration Notes
Voluntary migration - and voluntary "opting out" - of old e-mail from
OCS to Google continues through May 22. You can opt out or volunteer
by following this link: https://saml.macalester.edu/signup.php.
After May 22, all remaining e-mail on the OCS server will be migrated
to Google. If you want to opt out, you must act now.
Some questions about the migration have come up, and we want to answer
them for you now.
"Can I continue to access my OCS mail indefinitely?"
NO! The OCS server will be turned off permanently on July 3. You can
volunteer to migrate sooner, volunteer to opt out, or do nothing and
your mail will be migrated after May 22 - but OCS is a dead end.
"If I opt out of the migration, can I change my mind?"
Yes, until May 22. After that date, no. If there's any question in
your mind about whether or not you might want your old OCS e-mail,
volunteer to migrate or let us migrate you manually. You can
always choose to delete migrated mail later, out of Google.
"I have some mail stored in local folders. Will these mesages be migrated?"
Not unless you take some extra steps. Here are your options for messages
stored in local folders (that is, on your computer's hard drive):
1. You can continue to read local messages using Thunderbird. In a
pinch, you could even open them with a word-processor or text editor,
but that would not capture formatting.
2. If you drag your local messages back into OCS, they will be migrated
to Google when your other OCS messages are moved. (If you've already
had your messages migrated, see the next option.)
3. We will make personalized visits during which we can help you migrate
your local messages into Google. To schedule a visit, please call our
ITS Help Desk at x.6525 or via e-mail at helpdesk@macalester.edu for
assistance.
05/13/08, Happy New (Google) Year!
Macalester's new fiscal year begins June 1. This is the perfect time to
introduce Google Calendar as the College's new shared calendaring
system. You may have been experimenting with Google Calendar already,
and if so, you know how great it will be to use a fully integrated
e-mail and calendaring system!
Beginning June 1, Google Calendar will replace Oracle Calendar
(Corporate Time) as our supported calendaring tool. Please stop using
Oracle Calendar after June 1 except for reference to past meetings.
You can open Google Calendar by clicking the 'calendar' link in the
upper left-hand corner of your Google Email window. The calendar will
open in a second tab. The very first thing you should do in Google
Calendar is doublecheck your Country and Current Time Zone settings
(click on the 'settings' link in the upper right of the Calendar
window). If you see anything other than "United States" and "GMT-06:00
Central Time" in these boxes, please correct the settings. We have
written up some quick, clear instructions on setting these options - get
them here:
www.macalester.edu/its/documentation/xplatform/googleapps/googlecaltimezone.pdf
We will be offering further documentation, hands-on training
opportunities (both classes and one-on-one sessions) and direct support
for Google Calendar. Watch this space for further announcements and
more detailed information.
05/08/08, Sign Up to Migrate Your E-Mail!
OCS WILL BE TURNED OFF PERMANENTLY ON THURSDAY JULY 3. You
may choose how this termination will affect you.
Repairs to OCS are complete. The tools to migrate your old OCS e-mail
into Google have been built. As of today, you can sign up to have
your mail migrated - or explicitly opt out of the migration - by going
here: https://saml.macalester.edu/signup.php
In keeping with the migration strategy we announced on May 2, you have
three choices for mail migration:
1. Volunteer now. This will get your mail migrated more quickly. Go to
the signup page, enter your username and password, then click on "YES!
Migrate my e-mail." Mail migration will begin May 13, and will proceed
in the order of signups.
2. Opt out. This is the only way to prevent your old mail from migrating
from OCS to Google. Go to the signup page, enter your username and
password, then click on "I do not want my e-mail migrated to Google."
(Please note: OCS will be taken down permanently July 3. By opting out
of the migration, you are choosing to have all of your OCS mail
irretrievably and permanently deleted.)
3. Do nothing. If you do nothing, your OCS e-mail will be automatically
migrated into Google after all voluntary migrations are complete (that
is, on or after May 22).
If you would like more information on the migration and what your
old e-mail will look like once it arrives in your Google account, please
check out our Migration page, here:
www.macalester.edu/its/googleapps/migration.html
If you have questions about the migration process, please contact a Google
Rollout Help liaison or the ITS Help Desk (x.6525 or helpdesk@macalester.edu).
05/02/08, May Google Orientation Sessions
Did you miss our friendly, hands-on Google Orientation sessions in
March? Good news! We have scheduled three more sessions during May.
These are informal, expert-guided introductions to Google Email and its
features. No sign-up is necessary, just head up to Humanities 302 and
join us:
Wednesday, May 21: 9:30 AM
Thursday, May 22: 1:00 PM
Tuesday, May 27: 1:30 PM
Also, brief one-on-one introduction sessions during June may be
scheduled by contacting Bonnie Alexander at x.6625 or
alexander@macalester.edu.
05/02/08, E-Mail Migration Strategy
As promised, here is the basic strategy we will use to migrate old
e-mail out of OCS and into Google Email. Some details, dates and
programming still have to be worked out. It is inconvenient that the
process will happen at the end of the academic year, when everyone has
other priorities. However, we intend to do this right: there is no
reason to rush, and good reasons not to hurry.
1. We will build and publicize an "I'm ready to migrate my e-mail" page
on our Web site. That sign-up page should be available during the week
of May 12-16. Once that page debuts, there will be a two-week period in
which everyone may go here and sign up to have their OCS mail migrated
to Google.
2. After sign-ups end, all volunteers will have their old e-mail moved
from OCS to Google in its entirety. If you volunteer during the
two-week signup, your password will remain unchanged.
If you do NOT volunteer, your e-mail will still be migrated after
sign-ups close, but your password will have to be reset. This is an
unavoidable consequence, and it's one reason for the voluntary sign-up.
3. You may choose to opt out of migrating your OCS mail altogether, if
you no longer want or need any of it. There will be a check box on the
voluntary signup page if you choose to opt out. Again, only volunteers
may opt out of the migration.
4. After all e-mail has been migrated - first voluntarily, then manually
- the OCS mail system will be left up and accessible for a few weeks. We
will do this so that you may login to OCS and verify, if you wish, that
all your mail has truly been migrated. We will publicize a checking
tool that may help you. If you do not want any verification, you won't
need to do anything.
5. OCS will be turned off permanently on Tuesday July 1, and will no
longer be accessible. As of this date, our e-mail migration from OCS to
Google Apps for Education will be complete.
Further instructions and information will be forthcoming, on this site.
04/29/08, Google Tip: Fixing The Mailto: Link Problem
Let's say you click an e-mail link on a Web page, expecting Google's
message composition window to open. Instead, Thunderbird (or another
e-mail client) launches. This error can be permanently fixed by
installing a Google tool and then setting your preferences. Which tool?
Mac: If you use an Apple Macintosh, you'll need Google Notifier.
PC: If you use a Windows PC, you'll need Google Talk.
Both of these tools can be downloaded from the ITS Software page, here:
www.macalester.edu/its/software/email.html
Once you've installed the appropriate tool, you'll need to set some
preferences to make it work for you. Clear, simple instructions to do so are found in our
Google Apps Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file.
If you have difficulty, please consult a Google Apps Help
Liaison or the ITS Help Desk, x.6525 and helpdesk@macalester.edu.
04/25/08, E-Mail Migration Progress Report
Our OCS mail system has undergone extensive investigation and repair
procedures over the past few weeks, most recently Tuesday 4/22 through
Thursday 4/24. The results have been very promising, and we are pleased
to announce that OCS is available once more - via both Web interface and
Thunderbird. Yes, "Thunderbird is working again." (NB: Thunderbird works to get at your old mail in OCS, but not to
send and receive new Macalester e-mail. As of April 1, 2008, all
Macalester e-mail - anything sent to name@macalester.edu - goes to
Google.) We will monitor OCS
closely to make sure it continues to function properly.
Remember, bringing back OCS is a crucial step toward migrating old mail
into Google EMail. Once we have migrated messages to Google, OCS will
be turned off. We will announce a mail migration strategy next week.
In preparation, please take this opportunity to clean up your OCS mail.
Delete any messages you no longer need. The less mail you have to move,
the faster your migration will go.
04/22/08, Moving OCS and Thunderbird Addressbooks to Google Contacts
We noted this once before (on March 28), but in the excitement of moving voluntarily from
OCS to Google Apps it might have slipped by unnoticed. You can now move your
existing OCS and Thunderbird e-mail address books into Google Email. ("Address
books" is the term both OCS and Thunderbird use, but Google calls them
"contacts.") Moving your OCS address books into Google contacts requires
an administrator's assistance, so please call the Help Desk at x.6525 or e-mail
helpdesk@macalester.edu.
To move your Thunderbird address books into Google, follow a
two-step process. First, you'll export your address books out of
Thunderbird. Then, using an online tool we've developed, you'll import
those into Google as contacts. We have produced instructions to guide
you through this procedure, available here:
www.macalester.edu/its/documentation/xplatform/googleapps/TBAddressBooks.pdf
Remember, if you need to manage a large list of contacts - say, more than ten
addresses - our Mailman utility is a better solution. More information
on Mailman is contained in our document, here:
www.macalester.edu/its/documentation/mailman.pdf
If you have problems or questions, please contact the
ITS Help Desk at x.6525, or e-mail helpdesk@macalester.edu.
04/16/08, Google Calendar: Correcting Time Zone Glitch
Google Calendar is one of the services that makes up the Google Apps
tool kit. While we are not yet ready to make this the College's
supported calendar application - official notice will come within a few
weeks - we know that many of you are already trying it out. In the
meantime, if you are starting to work with Google Calendar, there is an
error that may need fixing so that your appointment times are correct.
Briefly, because we have had to roll out Google Apps much more quickly
than planned, the default time zone may be set incorrectly (to something
other than the United States and Central Time, 6 hours behind GMT).
Simply choosing the correct country and time zone in the Calendar
Settings will not solve the problem, so we have developed a brief, clear
handout that outlines the steps you need to take to fix this glitch.
You can download this document here:
www.macalester.edu/its/documentation/xplatform/googleapps/googlecaltimezone.pdf
(Not everyone has been affected, so if your settings are correct and
your appointments are showing up at the right times, you do not need to
take action.) If you have difficulty, please call a Help liaison or the
ITS Help Desk, x.6525 and helpdesk@macalester.edu.
04/14/08, Google Tip: Details
By default, Google displays messages showing just the names of the members
of that conversation. If you want to know more about a message - for
instance, to see the full address of the sender - click the "show
details" link at the upper right above the message text. Full
information on the sender's address, the recipient address(es), the date
and time sent, the subject line and the sender's mail domain will be
displayed. Details are visible only for this message. You can turn
details off either by clicking the "hide details" link or simply
returning to the Inbox.
04/11/08, You May Be A Winner!
As part of our Google Apps celebration in the Campus Center,
we randomly drew names and have awarded prizes. Some winners
picked up their prizes at our root beer float social. If you
are a winner and have not yet claimed your prize, please call
the Telecommunications Office at x.6000 or come by Humanities 316.
Three of our winners were not randomly drawn. These individuals
unknowingly served as milestones in our switch to Google Apps:
- Jaclyn Baker, student, was the very first person at Macalester to
voluntarily sign up for a Google Apps account, Friday March 14.
- Cherri Bringgold, Development, was the thousandth person (# 1000)
to voluntarily sign up for a Google Apps account.
- Laura Sanchez, Hispanic Studies, was the very last person at
Macalester to voluntarily sign up for a Google Apps account,
Monday March 31.
These individuals won prizes in our random drawing:
Hannah Adams, student
Kaija Bergen, student
Nancy Bostrom, Institutional Research
Michael Cohen, English
Paula Cooey, Religious Studies
Charles Edelman, student
Ann Esson, Environmental Studies
Greg Fitz, Art Gallery
Simone Gabara, student
Grace Geiger, student
Elizabeth Hoefer, student
Reed Larson, student
Victor Llanque-Zonta, student
Nicholas Mangigian, student
Antoine Mefleh, Classics
Ian Muehlenhaus, Geography
Dong-Hyuk Nah, student
Meghan Nelson, student
Adelaide Pagano, student
Doug Stone, College Relations
Elizabeth Vermann, student
Ben Voigt, student
Michael Waul, student
Congratulations to everyone who won a prize, and remember:
prizes or not, we're all winners with Google Apps.
04/10/08, Migration Celebration Today!
Come one, come all, to the Campus Center Atrium for root beer floats today
(Thursday April 10), 2:30 to 4:00 PM. Help us celebrate our successful
move to Google Apps for Education. Please stop by and have a root beer
float. While you're there, check to see if you've won a prize in our
random drawing!
04/10/08, Google Tip: Personal Level Indicators
Your incoming e-mail breaks down into three groupings. These are
messages sent only to you, messages sent to a few addresses (including
yours), and postings to mailing lists. By turning on Google's
'Personal level indicator' setting, you can quickly scan your Inbox
and see which category a message falls into, without opening the
message. Immediately to the left of the message's subject, you'll
see >> next to messages sent only to you. > will appear next to
messages sent to a few addresses, and no indicator will appear
next to postings from mailing lists. You can turn personal level
indicators on or off in Google Email's 'Settings' menu, on the
'General' tab.
04/08/08, Why Am I Getting So Much Spam?
You may have asked this question since the switch to Google Email.
Simply put, you're not getting more spam in Google than you did with OCS
- you're actually getting a bit less. However, you are being given more
autonomy in dealing with the spam you receive.
All incoming OCS e-mail passed through the Barracuda, an anti-spam
appliance. The Barracuda turned aside 99% of all incoming spam before
it ever reached you. The remaining 1% of spam were messages that seemed
questionable to the Barracuda - they might be spam, but they also could
be legitimate. The majority of these messages were delivered to your
Barracuda spam file, and a very few to your Inbox. You probably were
not aware that you even had a Barracuda spam file, since it required a
separate login to the device itself. The Barracuda has been phased out
along with OCS.
In Google Email, questionable messages are delivered into your Spam file
- you're actually getting less spam, it's just centralized into this one
location, so that you can make sure legitimate messages are not lost.
Google makes spam easy to see and easy to manage. If you do nothing,
messages that go into your Spam file will automatically be deleted after
thirty days. At any time, you can open that file and selectively move
messages elsewhere or delete them, as you choose. You can even click
the 'Delete all spam messages now' command at the top of the Spam File window
and delete the entire contents of your Spam file any time you wish. If
you receive a message in your Inbox that you know is spam, select it and
click the 'Report spam' button. This will move it into your Spam file
and will also help train Google's mail filters to be even more
effective.
In case you're interested, between 94% and 97% of all e-mail traffic is
spam. For every spam that arrives in your Spam file, hundreds of
obvious spams are blocked altogether and never reach your account.
04/07/08, Google Tip: Snippets
The 'snippets' feature shows the first few words of a message you've
received in Google Email. These words appear in your Inbox, immediately
after the regular Subject lines, and are lightly shaded. Some people
like snippets as a reminder of what a message contains. Others don't
care for them, since they can clutter up the screen. You can turn
snippets on or off in Google Email by clicking on the 'Settings' menu,
choosing the 'General' tab, scrolling down to the Snippets command, and
choosing your preferred setting. When you click on 'Save Changes' at the
bottom of the page, you will get back to the Inbox, and your changes
will be in effect.
04/04/08, Embrace The Change
Macalester has moved from OCS to Google Apps. This is a big change that
requires our thinking about e-mail to change as well. In contrast to
OCS, Web access to e-mail via Google Apps is feature rich, stable and
powerful. In the past, client software like Thunderbird provided
functionality to e-mail systems, and some of us look forward to the
return of Thunderbird or other helpful client software. However, as we move into Phase II, we
recommend that you work with the Google Web interface - we really
believe that you will not regret it as you discover the benefits.
Although the OCS failure pushed us to migrate more quickly than
originally planned, our goal was always to approach Google Apps on its
own terms. Google Apps far surpasses OCS and Thunderbird, both in
stability and in the variety of its services. The time it takes to get
better acquainted with Google will be worthwhile.
And Now, Phase II
Phase I of the Google Apps rollout concentrated on getting all
Macalester accounts created in Google, successfully sending and
receiving e-mail. We reached that historic moment on Wednesday, April
2. As of that day, all Macalester mail goes straight to Google.
Huzzah!
We now begin Phase II, concentrating on three major goals: migration,
mobile devices and calendaring. Migration focuses on troubleshooting the
OCS system such that old e-mail on it can be moved over into Google
Apps. This process is made easier now that OCS can be worked on without
interrupting incoming and outgoing e-mail. Google Apps integrates well
with many handheld computing devices, and we will explore ways to assist
with this integration. Finally, we are working toward making Google
Calendar functional for everyone at Macalester, for ease of scheduling
meetings and other group events. (Please note that there will be a
conversion date in the future, which we will announce well in advance.
Until that time, Oracle Calendar - a.k.a. CorporateTime - remains the
College's supported shared calendar tool.)
Phase II is the next level of our three-tiered move to Google Apps. We will
continue to publicize further steps, informative bulletins and progress
reports here, so check back frequently.
04/02/08, How's Your Spam?
One of Google Email's great features is built-in automatic spam
filtering. Most spam is obvious junk, and is filtered out before it
ever reaches your account. Messages that may be legitimate are
delivered to you, but Google usually puts them into a 'Spam' file
(listed on the left). You should periodically open and check this, so
that you can rescue any messages mistakenly marked as spam. You can
also delete spam messages selectively, or delete them all with the
command at the top center of the list. Be warned: anything left in the
Spam file for more than 30 days is automatically deleted and cannot be
recovered!
Google errs on the side of letting questionable messages through, as a
way of protecting potentially legitimate traffic. You know spam when
you see it. If you find a spam message in your Inbox, select it and
click the 'Report Spam' button. This will not only move the message to
your Spam file, but will also train Google's filters and make them just
that much more effective. If you accidentally mark something as spam
and want to move it back to your Inbox, just select it and click the
'Not Spam' button.
03/31/08, We're All On Google Apps!
Voluntary migration to Google Apps closed at noon today. By that time, 2,353
individuals - 94.12% of all Macalester accounts - had signed up for Google
Apps. By 3:00 PM this afternoon, all remaining accounts were manually moved
to Google Apps. No one should be receiving e-mail in OCS. Now what?
First, don't forget this week's Google Orientation sessions, being held Tuesday April 1 (no joke). No signup is
needed, just come to Humanities 302. Sessions are approximately an hour in
length, from 9:00 to 10:00 AM and again from 3:00 to 4:00 PM. These sessions
are hands-on, cover many topics, assume no prior experience, and include
friendly, thoughtful help from ITS staff.
Second, as noted on Friday 3/28, it's now possible to migrate OCS and Thunderbird
address books into Google contacts. Check out our clear instructions on this
process:
www.macalester.edu/its/documentation/xplatform/googleapps/TBAddressBooks.pdf
Finally, please note that all e-mail forwards from Macalester accounts in OCS
expired today. If you had requested that ITS set a forward from your
'@macalester.edu' account to another account, it has expired and now all
mail is coming to your Macalester account.
03/28/08, Migrating OCS and Thunderbird Address books
You can now move your existing OCS and Thunderbird address books into
Google Email. Please note that what both OCS and Thunderbird call
"address books" are called "contacts" in Google. If you wish to move
address books from OCS to Google, you'll need an administrator's help -
please call the Help Desk at x.6525 or e-mail helpdesk@macalester.edu.
To move your Thunderbird address books into Google, you'll follow a
two-step process. First, you'll export your address books out of
Thunderbird. Then, using an online tool we've developed, you'll import
those into Google as contacts. We have produced instructions that you
can follow to do this, available here:
www.macalester.edu/its/documentation/xplatform/googleapps/TBAddressBooks.pdf
Remember, if you need to manage a large list - say, more than ten
addresses - our Mailman utility is a better solution. More information
on Mailman is contained in our document, here:
www.macalester.edu/its/documentation/mailman.pdf
As always, if you have problems or questions, please contact the
ITS Help Desk at x.6525, or e-mail helpdesk@macalester.edu.
03/27/08, Departmental/Group E-Mail Accounts
Most departments, offices and organizations have separate e-mail
accounts (e.g. library@macalester.edu, helpdesk@macalester.edu).
Sometimes this is a full account that sends and receives mail; sometimes
it's just an alias that redirects mail to a specific person's regular
account. With the switch to Google Apps, we want to make sure that
departmental and organizational accounts are re-created properly. Since
we do not have a designated 'contact person' for all such accounts
currently, this message is going out to everyone on campus.
We need to hear about such group accounts by Monday, March 31. After
that date e-mail sent to old group accounts in OCS will not be
delivered. If your department, office or organization currently has an
e-mail account and you'd like to recreate it in Google Email, please
contact the ITS Help Desk as soon as possible (x.6525,
helpdesk@macalester.edu). If you have already contacted the Help Desk,
you do not need to do so again. For all such accounts, we need the name
of a contact person and a basic idea of the account's purpose. By
calling us, you'll not only provide that, but also make sure that we are
not overlooking any group accounts that are needed.
03/25/08, Upcoming Google Orientation Sessions
Would you like a friendly, expert introduction to Google
Email's features? Six orientation sessions have been
scheduled for the next couple of weeks. No signup is
necessary, just head up to the third floor of Humanities.
We'll meet in Humanities 302 (and expand as needed):
Wednesday March 26:
10:50 - 11:50 AM
3:00 - 4:00 PM
Thursday March 27:
9:00 - 10:00 AM
2:30 - 3:30 PM
Tuesday April 1:
9:00 - 10:00 AM
3:00 - 4:00 PM
03/20/08, Getting Started: Just Give Me the Basics
As we offer assistance for moving to Google Apps, you may be feeling a
bit overwhelmed by the amount of information coming at you. You're busy
with your own work and your life. You don't have time to be checking
every helpful link or tip we post - and we understand that. So in
preparation for the long Easter weekend, here are three fundamental
tools to help you get started using Google Email. These are by no means
all of the assistance we're offering! However, once you sign up for
your Google Apps account (at email.macalester.edu), these three
resources will give you all the information you need to get started
using Google Email successfully:
- Our own "Getting Started With Macalester Google Email" document:
www.macalester.edu/its/documentation/xplatform/googleapps/googleemail.pdf
- A six-minute online video showing most critical Google Email functions:
services.google.com/apps/resources/overviews_breeze/Mail/index.html
- Google's Gmail Help Center:
mail.google.com/support/?hl=en
03/18/08, Google Apps Orientation Sessions on Wednesday March 19
Macalester has rolled out a wonderful new e-mail system and we are excited
to share it with you. Come join your colleagues at any of the following
sessions and see some of what Google Apps has to offer. These are
informal introductions where you can get your hands on a
computer and try out the new system, with expert help right there on
site - no signup is necessary. We'll do our best to answer your
questions and make your experience a good one. Here's where and when to
find us. All sessions will be held Wednesday, March 19:
- 9:00 AM, Humanities 304 (Macintosh classroom)
- 10:00 AM, Olin-Rice 258 (Math/CS lab)
- 11:00 AM, Carnegie 309 (Econometrics lab)
- 1:00 PM, Humanities 304 (Macintosh classroom)
- 2:00 PM, Carnegie 309 (Econometrics lab)
- 3:00 PM, Olin-Rice 258 (Math/CS lab)
Further orientation sessions will be held after Spring Break - we want to
give you a chance to get in now while things are relatively quiet!
03/17/08, First Weekend Progress
Your initial response to our Google Apps invitation has been tremendous!
We announced at 5:30 on Friday 3/14 that Macalester users can sign up
for Google Apps accounts. Within 24 hours, 25% of the Macalester
community had signed up. By 9:00 AM today, Monday March 17, fully 33%
of individuals - one-third of our entire campus - had signed up for
Google Apps accounts. We are thrilled at this positive response. Those
of you who are already loving your Google Apps accounts, tell your
friends what you think so they, too, can begin to reap the benefits.
Remember, the link to get started (and thereafter to log into your new Google Apps account) is email.macalester.edu. As we move
forward in rolling out Google Apps, daily updates and further
information will be posted here.
03/14/08, We're Moving to Google Apps! (Posted 5:30 PM)
We're bringing a great new e-mail system to Macalester. As of today,
everyone in the Macalester community is welcome to sign up for Google
Apps for Education. Google Apps is a reliable, feature-rich suite of
communication and collaboration tools - beginning with e-mail. We are
tremendously excited about this opportunity and we are eager to share it
with you!
Today we begin a voluntary enrollment period with Google Apps. Below,
you'll find a link to the Google Apps sign-on page. Go here and enter
your Macalester username and password. These will remain unchanged, as
will your e-mail address (username@macalester.edu). After you click the
"login" button, your Google Apps account will be created within
approximately 12 hours. Accounts are being created twice a day,
beginning this evening, at 9:00 AM and again at 9:00 PM. Once you log
in, recognize that it will take some time before your acccount is ready
for use.
We are deploying Google Apps quickly so that everyone can re-establish
effective e-mail communication as soon as possible. Our rollout will
proceed in three distinct phases:
PHASE 1, "Sign Up, Send and Receive."
Voluntary enrollment remains open until Monday, March 31. On March 31,
any Macalester users who have not voluntarily signed up for Google Apps
will have accounts created for them. By close of business on March 31,
all Macalester users will only receive new e-mail in Google Apps for
Education. Old e-mail will still be available in OCS Webmail until the
end of Phase 2.
Our goal in Phase 1 is enabling the most basic communication tools for
everyone, sending and receiving e-mail. Your new Google Apps account
will not be populated with the e-mail messages in your OCS account. We
are working on developing methods of moving this mail into Google Apps -
that's Phase 2. Your current addressbooks will not move automatically
to Google Apps. However, instructions on how to copy contacts from your
OCS addressbooks will be available.
Google Apps is intuitive, and if you have difficulty with some basic
tasks, its Help link will be very useful in assisting you.
PHASE 2, "Conversion and Migration."
We recognize the critical importance of old/archived e-mail and
addressbooks in your work. We are creating methods to move this
information into Google Apps. In Phase 2, we will be broadening our
support parameters so as to help you with these migrations, as well as
with using the most crucial functions of Google Apps.
PHASE 3, "New Services and Tools."
Stable, reliable e-mail is our primary goal, but Google Apps offers much
more than that. After the e-mail migration, our next focus will be on
deploying the shared Google Calendar, for all faculty, staff and
students. Google Docs offers collaborative teams the ability to jointly
edit the same document in real time. Many other exciting and useful
tools will be available, with more coming on-line as Google builds new
ones. You won't quickly exhaust the possibilities!
03/11/08, E-Mail Service: Progress Toward Google Apps for Education (Updated 4:18 PM)
E-mail service through OCS has been restored, and is running as well as
it was before this afternoon's downtime. We continue to monitor OCS and
will do what is necessary to keep this service running, but we cannot
predict when it might go down again, however briefly. Please read on
for our plans about quickly moving to a better solution.
We are deeply grateful to the Macalester community for your patience as
we have wrestled with the recent e-mail outage and restoration process.
Currently, OCS Webmail is reasonably stable, and we will continue
working to keep this service available. These recent difficulties have
strengthened our belief that Google Apps for Education offers an
exciting array of services more suited to Macalester's needs than any
other tool we have evaluated - most especially stable, reliable e-mail
available across the Web.
A dedicated workgroup of College staff, aided by volunteer testers, have
been working for nearly a year to evaluate other products and recommend
a new e-mail tool for Macalester. Senior Staff of the College reviewed
this recommendation in February; accordingly, we will proceed with
Google Apps for Education. The group's testing and evaluation
procedures have built up a significant amount of knowledge, familiarity
and expertise that will help us switch from OCS to Google Apps. We had
originally planned to implement Google Apps using an incremental
approach that would roll it out to selected groups of people over the
next few months. Given our recent experience, we are compressing our
implementation down from 'the next few months' to 'the next few weeks'
to 'as soon as possible.' Further, we will implement Google Apps for the
entire campus community at the same time. This move is the top priority
for ITS and several collaborators from across campus.
Moving faster poses significant challenges. We are confident that these
challenges will be manageable if we approach the change to Google Apps
thoughtfully and incrementally. This means we will focus first on
building a support infrastructure that will be there for you when you
need assistance. Next we will concentrate on providing key services,
such as sending and receiving e-mail. We recognize that our community
will need help in migrating archived e-mail and addressbooks into Google
Apps. Additional services - such as a shared calendar and other
tools - will be supported as we move forward. During this switch, many
more services and settings will be available to you than we can
effectively support. You are encouraged to explore these options, but
please recognize that our support mission will expand more deliberately.
Bluntly, this means we won't be able to assist you with all aspects of
Google Apps immediately.
You may hear that some individuals have already moved from OCS to Google
Apps. These people are members of the 'conversion team' who will play
critical roles in creating the support infrastructure for you and your
colleagues noted above. They are taking risks and making mistakes to
find out how best to prevent such problems from happening to you. The
opportunity for interested Macalester stakeholders to switch to Google
Apps is coming soon, and we will share this with you as quickly as we
can.
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